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Ely Reeves Callaway Jr. was born on June 3, 1919 in LaGrange, Georgia. His father worked for the family firm which owned eight textile mills in the town. Young Ely's success in business began at the early age of ten, when he used money he had earned from delivering magazines to lease an acre of land on which he planted peach trees. He made more than $700 from his first crop.
In his early teen... Read more

Ely Reeves Callaway Jr. was born on June 3, 1919 in LaGrange, Georgia. His father worked for the family firm which owned eight textile mills in the town. Young Ely's success in business began at the early age of ten, when he used money he had earned from delivering magazines to lease an acre of land on which he planted peach trees. He made more than $700 from his first crop.
In his early teens, Callaway took up golf, inspired by the achievements of his mother's cousin, Bobby Jones, who in 1930 won the first "Grand Slam".
Upon graduation at Emory University, Callaway found the course of his life changed by World War II. He joined the US Army as a Reserve Officer and once his background in textiles was discovered, he was posted to Philadelphia where the Army had its main procurement facility for all its clothing. The contacts he had made in the post brought him a flood of offers from clothing manufactures, several of whom he worked for the next 27 years.
In the late 1960's, extensive research led Callaway to Temecula and to veteran viticulturist, John Moramarco, who believed that the area was ideal for growing premium wine grapes. In the rolling hills, Callaway found what he believed to be the perfect spot to plant his vines; a 1600 foot plateau, located below the peaks of a foggy mountain range "where the sun shines through the mist". In 1969, the Callaway vineyards were planted and by the early 1970's, Callaway said goodbye to textiles and hello to wine! He defied experts who considered Southern California unsuitable and put Temecula on the map as a serious wine producing region.
After selling the business in 1981 to Hiram Walker, Callaway enjoyed a brief retirement but came back "swinging" and became a leader in the golf industry. The success of the "Big Bertha" golf club made Callaway Golf the number one golf company in the world and Ely Callaway, an icon.
On July 5, 2001, Ely Callaway died at the age of 82. He left behind his legacy...one that continues to this day.
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